Adolescents, Volume 4, Issue 2 (June 2024) – 9 articles

After the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, several articles have described the fragility of young adults, such as students, highlighting the severity, frequency, and nature of mental distress. However, less research has examined the resources of young people, such as their creative competence and their ability to draw on a social network. Furthermore, the analysis of these resources is not very common in international comparative studies. The main aim of this cross-national study is to investigate whether creativity factors such as creative personality and divergent thinking together with social support predict resilience in college students, controlling for gender and nationality, in a sample of college students from Italy and Spain, European Mediterranean countries particularly affected by the pandemic. The following instruments were used to measure these constructs: The Creative Personality Scale, the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale. A total of 287 college students participated, 147 from Italy and 140 from Spain, with an average age of 22 years. The results show that there are statistically significant differences between Italian and Spanish students for all variables except resilience. The hierarchical regression shows that divergent thinking and social support are predictors of resilience for the whole sample. In light of these results, it may be important for universities to continue investing in divergent thinking and social support through workshops and activities to promote student resilience. Full article

During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have become overexposed to social media and online gaming, making them more vulnerable to online violence such as cyberbullying. The aim of this study was to determine whether social media and online gaming pose a risk for cyberbullying through time spent online and whether there is a sex that is more vulnerable to this phenomenon. The survey included a sample of 4338 students (52.4% girls; age range, 11–19 years, M 14.1 SD 1.6) attending lower and upper secondary schools. Multiple moderated mediation regression models by sex were conducted, showing a relationship between social media and online gaming, time spent online outside of school, and cyberbullying. The results show that young girls are at higher risk of cyberbullying via social media, and boys are at higher risk of cybervictimization through online gaming. The findings may encourage other researchers to study the phenomenon, taking into account the role of parents and other educators. Full article

HIV disparities continue to persist among Black youth in the South. We conducted quantitative surveys (N = 83) and follow-up qualitative interviews (n = 13) to assess sexual health needs including but not limited to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness. Participants all identified as Black; most survey respondents identified as being assigned female sex at birth and heterosexual. Both qualitatively and quantitatively, knowledge about HIV and PrEP and engagement in sexual health preventive behaviors was low. Participants described a need for more comprehensive sexual health education at younger ages and more routinized HIV testing. The latter was recommended even for people with a low perceived risk of HIV. Future studies should explore how to tailor communication to youth of color specifically and understand nuances of experiences they may have based on their sexual orientation and gender identity to promote engagement in sexual health preventive care, including but not limited to HIV prevention and PrEP uptake. The findings suggest that comprehensive sexual care that provides education on HIV, STI, and pregnancy prevention is critical for youth experiencing inequities in a Southern city context. Full article

Popularity is of great developmental significance to early adolescents for its implications on behavioral and adjustment outcomes. Although extensive research on popularity has been conducted in Western cultures, little is known about Chinese adolescents’ indigenous understanding of popularity. The current study examined Chinese early adolescents’ understanding of popularity using focus group interviews to explore the characteristics of popularity and unpopularity, as well as popularity determinants for boys and girls. We conducted interviews on six focus groups comprising 37 Chinese fifth and sixth graders (18 boys, 19 girls). Transcriptions were coded and analyzed through developing coding schemes that included emerged codes and categories. The results showed both cross-cultural similarities and culturally specific findings in adolescents’ perceptions of popularity characteristics and determinants. Specifically, sociability, academic performance, and prosocial behaviors served as major characteristics of popularity, whereas aggressive and disruptive behaviors were regarded as typical attributes of unpopularity. More importantly, culturally unique aspects of popularity characteristics were reported by Chinese adolescents, such as a strong sense of collective honor. When responding what would make a peer popular, Chinese early adolescents reported various behavioral, social, and cultural factors. Findings of this study underscore the importance of examining perceptions of popularity in consideration of the cultural context. Full article

This study examined the coping process of adolescents in the construction of a sense of coherence after experiencing bullying events in the digital environment. The content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 20 adolescents aged 14 to 18 (M = 16.85) revealed three themes: (1) the comprehension of the bullying as stemming from hatred and boredom; (2) managing the bullying by turning to the bully asking that they stop, deleting and forgiving after the event, and coping through self-isolation and with the support of family and friends; and (3) the emotional processing of anger, embarrassment, and sadness. All the data correlated with the a priori themes of the salutogenic approach, demonstrating a significant expression of the components of a sense of coherence. Understanding the adolescents’ coping process and their construction of a sense of coherence following their experience of cyberbullying may help practitioners design and implement tailored interventions for adolescents and their educators who are increasingly confronted with this issue. Full article

To reduce anemia among adolescent girls, factors that influence the consumption of iron-rich foods/IRF have not been investigated, and neither has a tool been developed to assess its determinants. Using the extended version of the theory of planned behaviour/eTPB, this study aims to develop and validate a questionnaire assessing individual and environmental factors that could influence IRF intake among Senegalese adolescent girls aged 10–19 years old. First, eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in different regions to identify salient beliefs related to each of the four constructs of the eTPB. Information from FGDs was used to develop a questionnaire that was administered to the first group (n = 200) of girls. Principal component and exploratory factorial analyses were then performed to identify latent factors for each construct. A modified version of the tool was administered to the second sample of girls (n = 400), and confirmatory factorial analyses were conducted. Hancock and Muller’s H reliability index was computed on the final model. Most metrics for fit indices were respected, and the H value was satisfactory. This study proposes a tool that could be used to explore determinants of the consumption of IRF among adolescent girls. Full article

Introduction: The widespread use of the internet has brought numerous benefits, but it has also raised concerns about its potential negative impact on mental health, particularly among university students. This study aims to investigate the relationship between internet addiction (IA) and mental health (MH) in university students, as well as explore the mediating effects of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) in this relationship. Objective: The main goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the measures and to determine whether internet addiction could negatively predict university students’ mental health, mediated through PsyCap. Method: A cross-sectional design with an inferential approach was employed to address this objective. The data were collected using the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24), Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), and Keyes’ Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). The total sample of this study comprised 850 students from two large public higher education institutions in Ethiopia, of whom 334 (39.3%) were female and 516 (60.7%) were male, with a mean age of 22.32 (SD = 4.04). Several analyses were performed to achieve the stated objectives, such as Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliabilities, bivariate correlation, discriminant validity, common method biases, and structural equation modeling (confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, and mediation analysis). Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the construct validity of IAS, PCQ-24, and MHC-SF. Additionally, the mediating model was examined using structural equation modeling with the corrected biased bootstrap method. Results: The preliminary study results found that the construct validity of IAS, PCQ-24, and MHC-SF was excellent and appropriate. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that internet addiction had a negative and direct effect on PsyCap and MH. Moreover, PsyCap fully mediated the relationship between IA and MH. Additionally, this study confirmed that all the scales exhibited strong internal consistency and good psychometric properties. Conclusion: This study contributes to a better understanding of the complex interplay between IA, PsyCap, and MH among university students, confirming previous findings. Recommendation: The findings, discussed in relation to the recent and relevant literature, will be valuable for practitioners and researchers aiming to improve mental health and reduce internet addiction by utilizing positive psychological resources as protective factors for university students. Full article